My dad was an avid reader and he passed it on to me. Reading brought out my interest in writing. I read On Writing by Stephen King which was part auto-biographical and part instructional where he shares his ideas and sample writings.

I wrote my first story in the fifth grade. It was called The Hunted Cougar. I didn't know anything about the West or cougars, but wrote it because I liked it. I showed it to two people, my dad and my teacher. I don't remember what my dad's remark was, but my teacher told me I shouldn't use red ink.